Ottawa

Ottawa:  Finding time and a consistently working internet connection has been nearly impossible.  We arrived in Ottawa on Thursday and spent most of the day waiting for our turn to go through locks.  After multiple phone calls to the Hull Marina in Gatineau, they finally told us they could accommodate us for our visit.  We ended up staying there for 3 nights due to its convenient location below the “Ottawa 8” staircase of locks and its proximity to the heart of Ottawa  with a walk or bike ride over the Alexandria Bridge. 

After docking the boat we walked into Ottawa to find a place for dinner and found a restaurant serving only fish which we thoroughly enjoyed.  I guess we had both had a bit too much of the British fare and needed something different and lighter for a change.  On Friday, since the weather was pleasantly cool, we decided we would try for an early day and bike to The Chandlery boat supply store to look for charts of the St. Lawrence River and areas around Montreal. 

The bike ride was along the canal and was clear across “town” to the far side of Ottawa.  We saw interesting sights along the way including an area along the side of the river where, using equilibrium only, people had created various rock statues.  We took several pictures of the creative designs.  Further on down the bike path we came across a very active beach including a life guard.   It was as interesting to look at the modes of transportation people used on the bike path as much as the scenery.  We saw roller bladders, skate boarders, baby strollers, tandem bikes, a bike that operated like a rowing machine using both arms and legs to propel the bike forward, motorized and non-motorized wheelchairs, walkers, joggers, and even a dog with sidesaddles running alongside a young woman on rollerblades. I was hoping that the saddlebags contained water for the dog because he was looking pretty tired and thirsty when I saw him.

From a trip to the Chandlery point of view the trip was a wasted effort and disappointment.  They did not have the charts that the Captain needed for his trip, and they did not have any galley goodies that I thought I might see.  The one item I did see was the same quick-release fender holders I had purchased at a marina on sale at the Chandlery for $2.00 more per hook.  I didn’t buy anything.  We decided we better grab lunch before heading back across town so I went into the “Farm Boy” super market and bought meat and rolls for a make-it-yourself sandwich.  Not the best I’ve ever eaten but it served the purpose. 

We had acquired tickets for the 4:30 tour of the Houses of Parliament before we set off on our bike ride, and we pushed ourselves to get back to Parliament Hill in time for our tour.  The bike trip round trip turned out to be 30 km or approximately 19 miles.  Add to that the trip around town we did to various sights after we got back to downtown Ottawa plus the trip over the Alexandria Bridge to get back to our boat, and the net total biking comes out to somewhere around 25 miles.  After having biked 20 miles the tour of Parliament held a little less enthusiasm for me than it had earlier.  I ached in a number of places including most definitely the balls of my feet, so whether biking or walking my feet were protesting any activity requiring their use. 

We made it back to Parliament Hill with about 10 to 15 minutes to spare and had a very nice one-hour tour of the central building.  There are various tours – some with guides and some self-guided around the facilities.  With the last tour of the day we did not have time to do the Peace Tower self-guided tour, so we figured we’d save that for Saturday when our son and his wife were with us.  On Saturday as hoped we made our way back to Parliament Hill where we left my son and his wife to take the same tour we had done on Friday and set off once again in search of charts for the boat. 

After walking several blocks towards the chart store called World of Maps, we once again looked at the smartphone to determine distance to the store and determined that the distance was too great for us to walk in the time we had available to us.  45 minutes walk each way was more than we were willing to attempt, so we called the Blue Line Cab company who had us to our map / chart store in no time.  We bought 3 charts that were missing for the waters in Quebec we intend to traverse in addition to a cruising guide for the St Lawrence River , called the cab company for another taxi, and got back to Parliament Hill just in time to meet up with our son and do the Peace Tower tour.  Going up 7 people at a time were allowed on the elevator plus one guide. 

We managed to squeeze 8 of us on there plus the guide, got up to the top and saw the sights, and then when we were ready to descend, the security guard at the top of the tower told us we were in for a “rare treat” as the elevator was not working and we would need to walk down the 23 flights to exit the tour.  So, I guess we were fortunate that we were one of the last groups of the day to get to see the top of the Peace Tower!  All told there were 11 people including the tour guide and the security guard who had to walk down to get out of the tower.  I figure it this way – it gave me material for my blog!!!

By the end of day all four of us were "walked out", i.e. worn out, but before going back to the boat we hit the fruits and veggies stands set up for the farmer’s market.  We bought blueberries, raspberries, carrots, cucumbers, and green beans – all very fresh and yummy looking.  We took our stash back to the boat and decided to eat on board taking advantage of our yummy treats found at the market.

The pictures of Ottawa are worth at least, if not more than, a thousand words but unfortunately the internet service we’ve been experiencing  is described as “flakey” at best.  I’ll post the pictures as soon as I get an internet connection sufficient to support photo upload.  Flakey internet in combination with exhaustion due to so much air and exercise leaves me impatient with the computer, so I am more inclined to tell it goodnight and go to bed than fight with it.

Our next stop is Montreal.  This, the captain informs me, is a long-day’s trip by boat and includes 2 commercial locks.  It should sound “interesting” as these locks will be busier than the tourist locks of the Rideau Canal.  The captain said that we will need to “raft up” for the locking through on these larger locks as so many vessels will be locking through together.